[Announce-DAN] Talking points for GE labeling hearing on 2/12

[bninski@uswest.net]

Hi, 

Please forward this to interested lists or individuals.

The hearing on the GE labeling bill in the Colorado State Legislature is on Monday, Feb 12 at 1 p.m. at the State Capitol in Denver, Room S354 Below are key talking points for people planning to testify or planning on talking to their legislators in their home districts. Please call me for more information. Carpooling from Boulder at noon at the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center, 1520 Euclid, Boulder. 

Although probably only about 30 people will be able to speak, we'd like to get a packed room to show consumer and farmer support for the bill. A good attendance will be key to getting this bill out of committee.  Also. please call Joan Fitzgerald, the Chair of the Committee and tell her you support the bill at 303-866-4873. If you live in Adams County call Stephanie Takis 303-866-4855 and Alice Nichol 303-866-4865. If you live in Louisville. Lafayette, or Longmont, call Terry Phillips 303-866-5291. Many thanks.

Carolyn Bninski
303444-6981x5

Talking Points  on GE Food Labeling

You have a right to know what is in the food you are eating and feeding your families.  This is a bill which ensures that Coloradans' will know if their food is genetically engineered.  This bill:

O	defines as misbranded any GE food not properly marked
O	but it also protects farmers or anyone who sells food that accidentally gets mixed with GE food.

60% of the processed foods sold in supermarkets right now contain GE ingredients.  Yet no GE foods are labeled because FDA doesnít require it. 

The FDA says a potato engineered to contain genes from a toad is substantially equivalent to a normal potato.  That does not make sense.  These foods are so unique they can be patented.

Poll after poll shows that Americans overwhelmingly want to know if their food is Genetically Engineered

O	A 1999 Time  Magazine poll and a 2000 MSNBC poll both showed that 81% want their GE labeled
O	Even a poll by a GE seed manufacturer, Novartis, showed that 91%want GE food labeled.
	
Genetic engineering is a powerful new technology that allows genes to be taken from any species and put into any other.

corn now contains genes from a bacteria that allows it to make its own pesticide
soybeans can survive a drenching with herbicides because theyíve been given genes from a virus, 2 bacteria and a petunia
hundreds of new foods are being developed 
soon fruits and vegetables will contain animal and even human genes. 

When people learn that their food has been fundamentally changed like this, it gives them pause.  

Scientists have raised concerns about possible toxicity or allergenicity.  The foreign proteins being put into GE foods have never been in human food before.  How do we know they will not  cause allergies, especially in young children?  

People worry that there might be environmental effects.  Weíve seen that even the pollen from Bt corn can kill Monarch butterflies
If they are not labeled, how will people whose religions prohibit eating animal or human protein be able to avoid them?
farmers are finding out that if their corn is mixed in with GE corn, they can not sell it, or they get a lower price.  Labeling will help farmers reach the highest-paying customers.

This bill does not say that GE food is dangerous.  No one knows, because FDA still does not require testing to find out if there are long term effects of eating this food.  

No one has had a health problem yet.  But people want to the option to wait until more is learned.  

Government scientists thought DDT and thalidomide were safe, and they were wrong.  What if they are wrong about GE foods?  Labeling will allow us to find out if people who choose these foods develop problems.
If a GE food turns out to cause health problems, how will we be able to track it down if itís not labeled?  Look at how expensive and hard it has been to get the GE StarLink corn out of the human food supply.

Big food processors are being cautious too.

O	to be on the safe side, Frito-Lay, Heinz baby foods, and Gerber baby foods are using no GE ingredients
O	Whole Foods and Wild Oats are using no GE ingredients in their house brands
	O	McDonaldís has decided not to use GE potatoes in their french fries

9.	Labeling is already required in:

Great Britain		Ireland 	France	  
Netherlands  		Belgium  	Luxembourg   
Germany  		Austria
Denmark  		Sweden 	Finland
Spain  			Portugal
Italy 			Greece
New Zealand
Japan

It is not right for Coloradans to get less information about their food than someone in Portugal or Greece. 

People read labels to make sure a food is Kosher, to choose orange juice with high calcium, or to make sure children do not get caffeine or too much sugar or fat; why can't they also identify GE foods if they wish?

If GE foods are as safe and superior as claimed, then over time people will look for these labels.

Good webistes on these issues are: www.organicconsumers.org; www.gefoodalert.org; www.citizens.org; www.purefood.org; www.thecampaign.org



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